City Of Casey Adopts Climate Action Plan

Victoria’s City of Casey has adopted a plan to guide Council towards achieving net zero corporate emissions by 2030 and support a community-wide target of net zero emissions by 2040.

The City of Casey is located in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs and is home to more than 369,000 residents living in suburbs including Cranbourne, Narre Warren and Berwick. It’s a big area, with a big population, so that means a significant emissions footprint. Total municipal emissions in 2020/21 have been estimated at 2,400,000 tCO2e¹. Electricity comprised 54% of that total, gas 12%, transport 21% and waste, 5%.

In 2022, Council consulted the Casey community to gain feedback on actions residents wanted prioritised in a Climate Action Plan.

“Climate change will impact everyone; therefore, it is up to all of us to help reduce our carbon emissions,” stated Council.

The resulting and now adopted Climate Action Plan 2022-2030 has been grouped into six themes:

• Energy Efficient Buildings
• Renewable Energy
• Transport
• Circular Economy
• Sustainable Land Use and Planning
• Education and Empowerment.

Renewable Energy In City Of Casey

There’s already been a lot of activity in the local government area on the renewable energy front. Small-scale solar power systems have been popular, with an estimated 36.5% of freestanding and semi-detached dwellings sporting solar panels (Source: APVI).

On Council’s side of things, City of Casey committed to a 9.5 year power purchase agreement (PPA) in 2020 involving wind power supplying streetlights in the LGA. Council also appears to have installed a significant amount of rooftop solar on its various assets² and all new Council buildings are fitted with solar systems.

One of the major actions identified in the Climate Action Plan is a 5 megawatt solar farm project at the site of the Old Casey Landfill, which is to supply Council with clean electricity. This initiative has seen some delays and now has a start date of 2024/25 noted in the plan.

Among other actions in the plan relating to renewables:

• Installing a 5kW wind turbine at Myuna Farm.
• Trialing battery smart load shifting.
• An additional 332kW of rooftop solar on Council facilities over three years.
• Investigating a rooftop solar rent-to-buy or PPA program with council leased community and sporting club facilities.
• Identifying opportunities for community solar farms (10MW in total).
• Investigating financial mechanisms supporting community investment in renewables and energy efficiency.
• Investigating a rent-to-buy rooftop solar program for small to medium enterprises.

On a related note, City of Casey has also made significant inroads on EV adoption; with thirteen battery electric vehicles in its fleet as at the end of last year, plus eighteen hybrids. Furthermore, it has three electric hard rubbish trucks.

“Council already has a strong record on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through improvements in energy efficiency and investment in renewable technology,” said City of Casey Chair of Administrators, Noelene Duff PSM. “This new plan will ensure this work continues and that we meet out targets for net zero emissions and renewable energy supplies.”